Official neglect may shelve heliport plans

The over ambitious plans of the State Government to set up heliports in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to increase intercity connectivity, might be put on the backburner as the state government officials are not showing much interest. Sources from the urban development department ( UDD) have confirmed that the government as well as the bureaucracy is not much interested about the implementation of the project.

The state government had selected two sites, one at Nariman Point in Mumbai and the other at Nerul in Navi Mumbai to set up heliports.

While Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) was appointed as the nodal agency for Nariman Point, City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) was appointed the consultant for Nerul site. The respective costs of the projects at Nariman Point and Nerul was Rs 131.8 crore and Rs 22.19 crore, respectively.

However, according to an official from UDD, the requirement of the viability gap funding (VGF) for both these projects is difficult to be met with and hence it is leading to a delay. " The VGF for Nariman Point site is Rs 34 crore while for the Nerul site it is Rs 6.35 crore. This amount is expected to be borne by the implementing agencies leading to the delay. VGF means the difference between the total estimated costs and the total estimated returns," claimed the official.

The presentation for these projects was made to the cabinet in February, however no decision was taken. It is also believed that since the Adarsh scam came into the limelight, relations between the state government officials and defence forces have not been good. As a result the clearances required by the defence authorities won't be coming easily, and thereby increasing the problems of the project.

These projects would be requiring clearances from a number of Central agencies including the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) along with an agreement with Airport Authority of India for air traffic control operations.